Abstract
Throughout the United States and many parts of the world, economic development and promotion are hot topics. An increasingly important angle on these subjects concerns measuring the effectiveness of various economic growth plans, given the expenses involved with development-related promotion and growth policies. These dynamics (and understanding them) are particularly important in the southern United States, where economic development and promotion have long been at the center of policymakers’ decisions (e.g., Cobb, 1993). Murat Arik, a faculty member and director of the Business and Economic Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University, has recently written a book on how to assess to the effectiveness of various economic activities within a regional context.
From the beginning, the author submits that his book “. . . is not a theoretical analysis of regional economic issues” (p. 1) but instead aimed at practitioners and students of this topic. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the book, while chapter 2 provides a discussion of the various concepts and forms of analysis used through the remainder of the text. This chapter is particularly useful for those working within economic development or policy-making circles, or for students involved in regional economic analysis. For starters, Arik differentiates between economic impact and contribution, which also happens to be a part of the book’s title. While some may differ with his definitions of these terms, his explanation of each could help spur discussions on the effects of policies aimed at economic development. Throughout the remainder of the second chapter, the author explains concepts such as cost-benefit analysis, counterfactual analysis, data analysis, input–output models, and examining development within a regional context. While these concepts help with understanding the cases that follow in ensuing chapters, they are just as useful to have in one’s “toolbox” when examining economic development within a regional context. The only critique of this chapter regards the brevity of the explanations for each of the concepts. Perhaps more explanation and examples could be provided for each of the core analytical approaches; however, this is only a minor concern and not the overall focus of the book.
From this point forward, chapters 3 to 7 present case studies (within a regional analysis context) for five different scenarios across Tennessee. Chapter 3 examines the health care industry agglomeration in middle Tennessee, clustered around Nashville. Beginning in this chapter, Arik applies many of the concepts discussed in chapter 2. Overall, it is a solid chapter, but perhaps more data could be provided to help with the analyses and readers’ understanding. For example, the location quotient measure is mentioned at least twice, with a couple of examples. A table containing location quotients across various industries for Nashville would help to make the author’s points even more solid. Chapter 4 offers additional regional economic analysis on the impact (or contribution) of tertiary education institutions across middle Tennessee. After a careful analysis of these institutions’ impacts across the region, it also compares middle Tennessee, mainly the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area, against other peer regions such as Birmingham and Denver.
Chapter 5 offers additional economic analysis of the region’s nonprofit sector, an economic segment that is not often covered in the development literature. Chapter 6 presents an examination of a proposed (and now implemented) intermodal port in the northwest corner of the state. This chapter is somewhat different from the others, as it is an analysis of a proposed project rather than an existing industry or cluster. From an outside perspective, perhaps the projections of the project’s impacts are a little bullish, but then again, this chapter does illustrate the difficulties inherent in regional economic analysis. Chapter 7, the final case study, examines the impacts of the Bonnaroo Music Festival on the county in which the event is held. This chapter is also different, in that it examines an event held once per year instead of a year-round industry. This chapter, while interesting, is quite short and could potentially use more evidence to support the impacts of the festival on Coffee County. Chapter 8 then provides a conclusion, wrapping up the analyses and findings.
Regional economic development scenarios may, by their very nature, be different in various locations. At the same time, the analyses provided in Economic Impact or Contribution can help readers understand development processes and their effects, especially within a Southern context. As such, this book would be useful for those studying economic development in the South, in addition to students of regional analysis. As such, it would be suitable for upper-level undergraduate courses or graduate-level coursework in management, economic geography, public policy, or planning, especially when accompanied by additional conceptual or methodological (e.g., econometric or statistical) readings.